What made Wednesday’s appearance more meaningful is that the Rockies’ bullpen desperately needed a lift and he did it with Rex Brothers watching.

Brothers hadn’t retired any of the previous six batters he faced. He straddled the fault line in Tuesday’s loss, and clearly would not have been the Rockies’ best option with a victory hanging in the balance in Game 1 of the doubleheader at PNC Park.

“If we are going to be the team that I think we can be, I can’t feel like I can only go to one guy with a one-run lead,” manager Jim Tracy said. “As the season goes on, these guys will tell me (through performance) who should be in there.”

Reynolds struck out the Pirates’ Alex Presley, setting the stage for Esmil Rogers and Rafael Betancourt to record the final six outs. That’s not how the Rockies drew it up in spring training. But with the team committed to keeping Matt Belisle fresh and Brothers needing a break, this is how the bridge came together.

Depth is critical. However, there’s no denying that Brothers’ rebound is central to the bullpen’s success.

“It’s not mechanical. It’s mental,” said Brothers, acknowledging he’s been trying to do too much, overthrowing that has compromised his fastball command and left his slider a non-factor. “Baseball can be a cruel game. But you have to take the highs with the lows. I want to get out there again and help this team.”

Brothers worked a scoreless seventh in the second game. He said the key was simple.

“My focus was on making the next pitch,” Brothers said. “You realize that if you make one bad one, it’s not the end of the world.”

There are no plans to make Brothers a specialist. Right-handers have gone 8-for-20 against him, a number that must improve if he’s going to continue working high-pressure situations.

“This is a very important piece. We need him,” Tracy said.

Footnotes. Troy Tulowitzki broke up James McDonald’s no-hit bid in the seventh inning of Game 1. … The Rockies went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the series.

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